The US is the largest consumer market for plastic bottled water in the world, followed by Mexico, China, and Brazil. In 2008, U.S. plastic bottled water sales topped 8.6 billion gallons for 28.9% of the U.S. liquid refreshment beverage market, exceeding sales of all other beverages except carbonated soft drinks, followed by fruit juices and sports drinks.
As recycling rates remain dismally low, making bottles requires virgin materials. It takes significant amount of oil and water just to manufacture a one-liter bottle. Extrapolating this for the developed world where more then 2 million tones of plastic are used to bottle water each year leads to the realization that the drinking bottle industry is undoubtedly a big oil consuming and greenhouse gas emitting industry for what are essentially single-use plastic bottles.
A reusable drink bottle was disclosed in US Patent application 2008/0237233 (Choi et al). The drink bottle has a cap assembly that includes a drinking spout and a bite actuated mouthpiece.
A flexible reusable container for storing and dispensing liquids is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,619 (Gill et. Al). The flexible reusable container is designed for extreme outdoor activities such as jogging, cycling, mountaineering and camping. The flexible container has a liquid dispensing means that allows drinking liquids from a flexible container without having to use one's hands.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel design for a squeezable bottle that may be used in daily activities out of home.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a squeezable bottle with a retractable mouthpiece which is easily used single-handed.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a squeezable bottle which may be reusable.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a squeezable bottle which may be conveniently filled through a large opening.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a reusable, light weight, easy to fill, easy to clean, squeezable bottle made of a tasteless, safe health-wise, recyclable thermoplastic elastomers squeezable bottle.